"capers" news and stories

Last month in the New York Times, Melissa Clark published a recipe for broccoli with shrimp roasted in the same pan and described how bite-size pieces of chicken thighs would cook in the same amount of time, too. I tried the chicken idea with cauliflower, and the results were very nice. Since then, roasting protein and veggies together has been my go-to method for no-fuss cooking.

Recently, I was inspired by two recipes in Gourmet's "Every Day" section: Roasted Pacific Cod with Spring Vegetables and Mint and Provençal Chicken and Tomato Roast. I swiped the cod from the first and the tomatoes from the second and threw in capers instead of the black olives that the second recipe called for. The fish and the tomato mixture were cooked perfectly at the same time. This is a tasty, simple recipe that I'm sure to reprise. The method is after the jump.

Being part-Polish I should love borscht. The beety flavor, the gorgeous red hue. It's one of the big staples along with my beloved pierogies and galumpkis. But I just couldn't get into it. I began to feel bad about this distaste when my great aunt came to visit from Poland and cooked for us. Years later, I still fear the soup, but since I've been on a huge kick to remove as many foods on my no-eat list, I figured beets were a good area to tackle next. That, and I got some beautiful ones in my last organic food delivery.

I searched the web and settled on Roasted Beet Salad with Beet Greens, courtesy of Epicurious. In the comments, a few people swore that beet haters loved this, so I had to try. It's simple, almost fool-proof. I got antsy and nuked my beets half-way through (it was getting really late at night), and I am happy to say -- they were delicious. The vinaigrette cuts some of the beet flavor, and is paired wonderfully with the garlic, capers, feta, and beet greens. When you do get some of the strong, beet flavor, it's much easier to take, get used to, and like. In fact, I'm hooked on salad now. It hasn't even been a week, and I've already picked up more beets. For other beety options, try this beet and goat cheese salad, or this carrot and beet salad.

Step two: Borscht.